August 05, 2020

48 Things Are Not Fine

1 hour 4 minutes

Physician Sofia Pineda Ochoa became so concerned about the future of life on Earth that she wrote, produced and directed the new documentary, Endgame 2050. "There is no human health without planetary health," she tells us. She interviewed several notable experts in the film, but musician/environmental activist Moby provided the most brutally candid assessment of our situation: "Things are not fine." He told Sofia we "are destroying the only home that we know of in the universe that will support life…. if we can't change ourselves, if we can't learn how to live in sustainable harmony with the only world that will support us, we need to go away."

The film doesn't shy away from human overpopulation as a chief contributor to our ongoing destruction of Earth's life-supporting ecosystems. Dr. Ochoa does more than diagnose our problem; she also offers some solutions: "I think we have a moral obligation to raise awareness about the unsustainability of our current population growth rate, and the importance of slowing that rate down, as well as changing our consumption patterns." On the consumption side, Endgame 2050 makes a compelling case for eliminating meat from our diet.

Alec Baldwin, Brad Pitt, "nature porn," and the United Nations all come up in our free ranging conversation. The film is free to view on several streaming services. Visit endgame2050.com for screening information (and for good resources if you want to dig deeper into the subjects raised in the film).

DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

Welcome to Overshoot: Have a Nice Day – Conversation Earth Special Podcast Version Radio Broadcast Version

Endgame 2050

MeatYourFuture.com – Sofia's website supporting a plant-based diet

Lie Down in Darkness – by Moby

The Game Changers

Bad science and bad arguments abound in 'Apocalypse Never' by Michael Shellenberger – by Dr. Peter H. Gleick

Decoupling Nonsense – episode 35 of the GrowthBusters podcast